Giving Account

Matthew 12:36 "But I tell you that everyone will have to give account on the day of judgment for every empty word they have spoken." That is what the Bible says. We will have to give an account for every word, not just spoken, but those we think, write too. Because God knows our hearts.

Would you be so kind to me to take a trip with me to the giving account room?

I enter this great room and before me is the Creator of the universe, God. This room is huge and I am this little person standing before God. The room isn't full of people, it is just me standing there alone. I don't have people around me, I don't have my wife, my parents, my siblings, my coworkers, the person that cut me off in traffic. I am there alone before God.

God says "Geoff, you are standing before Me to give account for your actions, for your words, for your thoughts."   I pause, thinking back on my life knowing that my words have traveled not just through my voice, but those written, those thought. Thinking of all the foolish things I did, thinking of all that I said but at the time didn't give it a second thought because I could blame someone else, but here I have no one to blame but myself.

God says "Geoff you said some very hurtful things to your wife. Why did you say this or that? You made a vow to Me to love her unconditionally."

I stand there unable to speak, because the realization of the very points that I had tried to make when I was living was that it is someone else fault I said, I thought, I hurt others. I no longer can blame anyone else, because they were my choices. I have to give God an account of them. He said I would, but I didn't think twice about it when I was on earth, but here I stand before Him speechless, because I did it, it was me that said it and in the Bible I remember reading in Matthew 15:18 "But the things that come out of a person's mouth come from the heart, and these defile them." And I also remember the verse in Ecclesiastes 5:4 "When you make a vow to God, do not delay to fulfill it. He has no pleasure in fools; fulfill your vow."

I say "Lord" I stutter, I babble knowing full well I have no excuse for my actions, I can't blame it on anyone else. I stand there realizing how I was wrong in how I was, because I didn't read what was written in the Bible or maybe I didn't really believe it, but here I stand with no words to say, because I can't blame it on my circumstances, I can only stand there realizing what a mistake I made. I say "Lord, it was because of what someone did to me." And I know full well that the Bible talks about that very thing.

God says "Geoff those are feelings, I wrote about all that in the Bible that I gave you to learn from, to guide you along the way of truth. For example, look at what I put in the Bible in Luke 6:31 "Do to others as you would have them do to you." I wrote about this all, because I love you Geoff, I wanted you to pick the right way to deal with people, but here we are, because you chose to blame others, instead of standing how I told you to stand."

I say "But Lord, I felt wronged."

God says "Geoff, I sent My son Jesus to die on the cross to set you free, so that you could live in freedom, to live in forgiveness, to do just as Jesus did and that is to just turn the other cheek, but did you do that? Did you look at what I called you to do? Did you seek Me first, because when you seek Me first and love Me more than yourself, than you wouldn't treat others how they treat you, you would have treated them the way I treated you. I have given you choices so that you can learn from them, yes there is bad things, but I gave you wisdom to get through them. There was nothing that I gave you, that through My power you couldn't handle, but did you seek Me first?"

I stand there literally without words, because no longer can I blame others for my actions, for my reactions, for my words, because God has written about how to avoid this, He has covered it all and my actions are inexcusable. They were choices I made, not to do what the Bible has told me to do, not to walk how it told me to walk, I did it on my own, instead of doing it through the grace of Jesus Christ.

Now come back with me to today. You are reading this, because I am alive, I am here and so are you. I have a choice to make as you do as well. Do we want the above to be our giving account room or do we want it to go differently. I know for me, I would love to hear "Well done my good and faithful servant!"

Today is a new day and God has given us another day to do it His way, it comes down to what do we want to do. Do we want to stand before Him alone with nothing to say, but realize all that we should have done or said? Or do we want to hear well done my good and faithful servant. It comes down to do you believe that God is really real and if so, than put all your trust in Him, for He will guide you, give you strength and so much more. Give Him a chance and do it His way.